The present invention relates to accessing and manipulating digital data files, and more particularly to an application programming interface for a digital disk recorder for accessing and manipulating multiple tracks of media files.
In a tape recorder different media streams, representing video, audio, time code and switching events, are bound together by the physical nature of the medium. Each stream is represented on the tape medium as a parallel track that runs nominally along the length of the tape. However in a video disk recorder each media stream/track is recorded on its own, independent file on the disk. This breaks the physical binding of the tape model, and makes editing, slipping tracks and replacing tracks easier. However to provide familiarity and ease of use it is desirable to emulate a tape recorder for operator efficiency.